Brown Shoe credited the improvement in net sales to its wholesale operations, as well as its recent acquisition of American Sporting Goods, which accounted for 7 percent of consolidated net sales.

Both helped offset a decline at Famous Footwear, where same-store sales decreased 3.9 percent in the first quarter, after the company eliminated its BOGO days.

“As expected, we saw revenue improvement in the first quarter, although our overall results were mixed. Despite tough year-over-year comparisons, we were able to grow our gross profit margin at Famous Footwear and experienced revenue growth in our wholesale operations,” Diane Sullivan, president and COO of Brown Shoe, said in a statement.

“The entire company is looking forward to heading into the back-to-school selling season and to meeting our consumers’ needs and driving market share in our target areas of healthy living, contemporary fashion and family.”

At quarter-end, Brown Shoe had $54.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $288 million in borrowings under its revolving credit agreement.